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prodigal-explorer · 5 months

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my dearest little prince (i)

(roman sanders hurt/comfort, cw for extreme self deprecation and janus dropping truth. features sympathetic janus!)

“My dearest little prince…what’s happened to you?”

Roman’s hollow eyes, darkened from sleep deprivation, were squeezed shut, tears spilling out the sides and down his cheeks. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Nobody was supposed to know. Not even Janus’ tender, lulling voice could pull him out of this panic.

“Baby, come here. Please. Let me help you. Let me hold you.”

Janus’ words were practically hypnotic to the tired, desperate young prince. Roman was so tired of being used, so tired of being an object. All he wanted was to be loved, just like everyone else, but it seemed that no matter what he did, no matter what positions he bent himself into, he could never change himself enough. He was still too Roman. Maybe his actions weren’t the problem, after all. Maybe Roman himself was to blame. Everything about him, after all, was wrong, no matter what he did and how he did it. Roman could feel his mind turn to fuzz, Janus’ words and form growing farther and farther away as he enveloped himself in a meager attempt at self-protection. After all, Roman had long learned that he couldn’t trust anybody else to protect him from anything.

This had to be a trap. It just had to be.

“When was the last time you ate?” Janus whispered, putting a hand on Roman’s shoulder. The prince flinched back, but Janus persisted, too anxious to be sensitive. “Baby, please. I’m worried about you. You’ve always been so fragile. And lately, it feels like you’ve just been floating away.”

“Yeah?” Roman whispered, his voice seething with hurt. “I wonder why.”

Janus blinked, and tilted his head, his brow furrowed. “What do you mean, darling?” he asked gently.

“Maybe I should float away,” Roman mumbled thickly as his tears started to suffocate him. “You all would like it so much better if I was gone. You play tricks on me to make me shut up or look stupid, you use me for your own agendas without even caring about mine, and then you betray me when all I ever wanted to do was help my friends! I wanted to be a prince, I wanted to be honorable and chivalrous, but- but what’s the point if it always ends with me alone? I’m the least favorite side, Janus. The least favorite. The least amount of fans like me, and the most amount of fans hate me.”

“That’s-…that’s not fair, Roman,” Janus whispered, but Roman interjected before Janus could continue.

“Maybe it is fair,” he snapped, “Someone has to be. Maybe it should be me. After all, I am the evil twin. No matter what I say or do, no matter how hard I try, people only care about the bad stuff I did, and none of the good stuff I’m doing. What’s the point of trying anymore? What’s the point of anything?”

Roman tried to keep ranting, but a whimper cut him off, and as he realized the weight of everything he was saying, he started to sob. He felt like he was being crushed under the weight of the situation. Never in his entire life had the little prince felt so helpless.

Janus took the opportunity to talk. He tried to hide his anger, not towards Roman, but towards everyone and everything that caused Roman to believe such terrible things were actually true. Himself included.

“My precious little one,” Janus murmured, carefully pulling Roman’s limp and trembling limbs into a hug. “You are not evil. Evil people don’t worry about whether or not they’re evil. Evil people don’t cry as you do now. You are so, so good, my darling. And I’m sorry that nobody has told you that. I’m sorry that you’ve felt so alone for so long. You try harder than anybody I know. You are so ready to learn and change that sometimes I worry that you’ll lose yourself one day and never find it again.”

“Would that really be such a bad thing?” Roman muttered to Janus’ chest.

“Of course it would!” Janus scolded gently, starting to rhythmically pet Roman’s curly hair and support his delicate form. “Roman, you are so special. You’re so…beautiful. I’ve never met anybody else who sees the world the way you do, with such wonder. With such color. You sing when no audience is around to applaud you. You speak to things that can’t speak back. You care so much about everything. You care more than anybody I’ve ever met.”

There was silence and stillness in the room for a very long time, not a sound except for occasional sniffling from Roman. And then, the creative side fully launched himself into Janus’ arms, letting his sorrow carry him as he melted into Janus’ secure, but gentle hold, sobbing into his shoulder and letting Janus support his weight, trusting him to keep him upright.

“My baby…my sweet baby,” Janus whispered, “You’ve been hurting for a long time, haven’t you?”

Roman couldn’t speak. He couldn’t act, he couldn’t ask for more than this. For so long, he had been trying to act more mature, so he could be taken more seriously. But it felt so good to just cry, and be a child again, even if just for a moment. Janus seemed to innately know that Roman needed this. Maybe Janus cared more than Roman thought.

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bastard-aziraphale · 1 year

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since this AU hinges on the relationship between the twins i really wanted to complete a drawing of them together !! ft. the first time they tried hanging out together at college, with janus as a chaperone

#ts remus #ts roman #creativitwins #remus sanders #roman sanders #janus sanders #platonic dukeceit #platonic roceit #sanders sides #sanders sides fanart #tss fanart #digital art #digital illustration #drinking cw #alcohol cw #anamoceit uni #sanders sides college au #art tag

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aidensm8 · 2 years

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I wonder where the Janus plushie is--

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fangirlwriting-stories · 10 months

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They Say You Can’t Fight Fate (I Say Fucking Watch Me)

Chapter One

Chapter Four:

They spent the next day getting Roman’s car back (which was still in good condition, just needed adjustments after driving so long on the road), and then exploring.

The town was pretty small, but there still seemed plenty to do. Granted, Remus was used to far less to do, but there were still a couple bookstores, some good looking restaurants, a cinema, and, what Remus would have made them leave if they didn’t have, a rage room.

They both headed there first, and walked in to find two employees arguing behind the desk.

“No, no, shut up, shut up and listen, are you listening to me?” said the one with purple hair. “I will put up with a lot of shit from you, but I am not going to sit here and take this!”

“Well excuse me,” the other one said, rolling his eyes. “I didn’t realize I wasn’t allowed to have an opinion.”

“You aren’t if your opinion is fucking stupid!”

Roman cleared his throat awkwardly. “Um, hi?” he said.

To Remus’ eternal delight, the purple one turned to face him, held up a finger and said “Hang on,” then turned right back to the other one.

“Now listen,” he said. “And tell me, Janus. Have you ever run for your life?”

“Janus” said nothing.

“Well, have you?”

“You told me to listen,” Janus said. “Do you want me to listen or do you want me to answer your questions?”

“I swear to god Janus,” the purple-haired one said, as Remus leaned forward, absolutely riveted.

“It doesn’t even matter Virgil, because we’re not talking about real life, we’re talking about fiction, and that gives me free reign to judge whoever I want.”

“Have you. Ever. Run for your life?”

Janus threw his hands up. “No! Obviously I haven’t, Virgil!”

“Well then how do you know you wouldn’t be exactly as stupid as a horror movie character?”

“Because I have a functioning head,” Janus groaned, looking up at the ceiling.

“Do you know how much head function goes out the window when you’re running from a man with a chainsaw?”

“Uh, hey,” Roman said, drawing both of their attention. “Are you going to let us in?”

“Shh-shh,” Remus said, putting a finger up to Roman’s mouth. “I want to hear this.”

Thankfully, the other two seemed to take Remus’ interest as all the permission they needed, because they went right back to arguing, and Remus walked forward to lean on the desk and watch.

“I don’t know what to tell you Virgil, you’re not going to convince me of this,” Janus said. “I don’t care how much psychology is behind it. It’s a story, it doesn’t have to be realistic.”

“Yes it does,” Virgil snapped, looking up at the ceiling. “It doesn’t have to be reality, but it needs to be believable!”

“I’m sorry, what is the criticism launched at horror movies so often it’s become a joke all on it’s own?”

“Janus—”

“Isn’t it something about the characters making stupid unbelievable decisions? No, wait, that couldn’t be it, because that would mean you’re a moron who’s making a stupid argument.”

“I’m going to strangle you,” Virgil growled.

“Look, the way I see it, we’re diametrically opposed on this anyway,” Janus said with a shrug. “Seems like we need outside input. You want to ask the customers here?”

“Oh please leave me out of this,” Roman said, backing up.

“I think you’re both right but for the wrong reasons,” Remus said with a delighted grin. “Yes, human reasoning goes out the window when someone’s chasing you with a chainsaw. But also, it’s funnier if the characters are stupid.”

Virgil turned to stare at him. “It’s a horror movie. It’s not meant to be funny.”

“Is it not? I’ve never actually seen one of those. Not by lack of trying, it was apparently just too much on my delicate mental state. But I don’t know, the idea of people running screaming from a guy with a chainsaw like that’s not gonna make them easier to find sounds hilarious, in my opinion. Anyway, can you let us in so we can break a bunch of shit?”

Now both of them were looking at him in confusion, but after a second, Virgil sighed. “Fine. I guess since no one is going to listen to reason anyway,” he said in annoyance. “Are you both eighteen?”

“Yep,” Remus lied instantly.

“Cool. Don’t damage the structure of the room, just the items inside it. You can hit stuff against the walls as long as it’s not hard enough to make holes in them. Make sure you’re wearing shoes if you break anything glass. Janus will take you to grab your safety gear. Are either of you intoxicated, sick, injured, or pregnant?”

“I’m pregnant,” Remus said instantly, as Roman groaned and buried his head in his hands in the background. Remus had a similar response the last time they went to a rage room.

“Congratulations,” Virgil deadpanned, sliding two liability waivers across the table. “That’ll be 60 bucks for each of you.”

“Great, put it on our parents’ stolen credit cards,” Remus said, fishing one out of his pocket and passing it across the counter.

Virgil stared at him for a second, seeming vaguely suspicious, which was an interesting reaction, since Remus had just said out loud the cards were stolen. Janus, on the other hand, was smiling at him, appearing closer to intrigued.

“You got it,” he said, taking the card from Remus and running it through before passing it back to him. “Lets go get your safety gear.”

Remus grinned at him, and he and Roman both followed Janus back into another room, where Janus gave them both eye protection, coveralls to change into, and gloves.

Remus had been to a rage room once before, but the feeling had been totally different. He’d spent the time smashing TVs and vases in an effort to get some kind of, well, rage, out at his situation and everything he was going through. And it had felt amazing in the moment, but then he’d gone back to the mental hospital and everything had just felt more insurmountable.

This time, however, as soon as Remus walked into the room, he started looking around in delight at everything there. The second Janus closed the door, he ran over and smashed a hole into a TV screen. Roman laughed in delight behind him and went to do a similar thing to a TV nearby.

Remus whacked his TV several more times, then turned to cause a good amount of damage to an empty bookshelf. When he’d hit that enough times, he turned to several decorative vases. When those were appropriately shattered, he moved over to a pile of cords and headphones.

And rather than anger like the last time he’d been to a place like this, the whole time he felt like he was shaking with adrenaline and mania and joy. Roman was taking out a fair bit of items with just as much energy, and near the end of their hour-long session, they both ended up in the middle of the room, surrounded by broken and shattered objects, with grins that were way too wide.

Remus looked around for a second, then started laughing. Roman started laughing a second later, and they both ended up on the floor, laying down in a relatively clean area and staring up at the ceiling.

“Fuck,” Remus said.

“Yeah,” Roman agreed.

“I liked that better than last time,” Remus said.

“Me too,” Roman said. “I pretended all of the stuff I smashed was Mom and Dad or one of your orderlies.”

“Fuck,” Remus realized, turning to look at him. “Why didn’t I think of that? We have to come back now.”

Roman laughed. “You think Mom and Dad will be cool with us maxing out their credit cards on rage rooms?”

“I don’t know,” Remus said, turning back to the ceiling. “But I think I have a better idea.”

…

Virgil and Janus were surprisingly willing to hire the two of them. Apparently they didn’t have a ton of employees right now, and two more would boost the hours they could be open, since Virgil and Janus could only work when they weren’t in class. They were both a few years older than Roman and Remus, and trying to work their way through community college.

So now, when he and Roman weren’t apartment shopping or going on drives through the area around town or trying to figure out how the hell they were going to afford not dying, they were working at the rage room, usually with Janus and Virgil for now, since they were new and still learning some things.

Remus liked Virgil and Janus. They didn’t ask too many questions and bought that Remus and Roman were both eighteen without asking to see an ID. (Well, they were close, so Remus could understand why they bought it. He and Roman both looked a little old for their age, you could blame the trauma, and they’d only have to last until June before they wouldn’t have to lie anymore at all. But it was still nice that neither Janus or Virgil pushed too hard.)

Janus shared Remus’ tendency for chaos, and he’d introduced Remus to spray paint art. Just on plywood that was going to get smashed in one of their rooms, so far, but Remus loved it all the same, and he sure Janus would be down to spraypaint in slightly-less-legal places one of these days. It would be Remus’ first crime! He was a little embarrassed it had taken him this long to commit one, but the orderlies had watched him too closely for him to get away with much back at the institute. Janus was clearly experienced, though. He said he knew how to spraypaint, and shoplift (which Remus and Roman should both probably learn just for survival reasons), and Remus could never be quite sure if he was joking when he said he’d gotten away with arson once.

Janus talked with Roman about theatre and acting, which was clearly less superior to his conversations with Remus, but that was okay. Roman could keep Janus’ boring half, as long as Remus got to have fun with him.

Virgil was a little less out there overall, but he still got approval from Remus once he brought in his whole collection of horror movies for the two of them to watch in the back when they didn’t have customers. Unsurprisingly, Remus decided he liked the super gorey fucked up ones the most, though he did ask Virgil to steer clear anything with mental hospitals or crazy people. Virgil, thankfully, didn’t ask. Remus liked that quality of his more every day.

In what was more of a surprise, horror-movie enthusiast Virgil also loved Disney just like Roman. The two of them spent hours talking about it and debating it— apparently they liked it for very different reasons. Roman liked the mushy gushy happy fairy tale aspect like a loser, and Virgil, in what Remus could almost respect, liked the darker undertones and weird messed up messages that could be found throughout the movies. They both went back and forth on this topic often.

And unfortunately, it was during one of these debates that they ended up on a topic neither Remus or Roman liked.

“See, that’s another thing about The Lion King. I can’t decide whether they should have added soulmates or not,” Virgil said, waving his hand dismissively as he scribbled down something on the inventory sheet. “Like yeah, as far as we know animals don’t have soulmates, but if they’re going to be humanizing the characters to such an extent anyway, it’s at least worth thinking about.”

Remus exchanged a glance with Roman, who rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t know,” he said without looking at Virgil. “Honestly, the romance wasn’t my favorite part of the movie.”

“Oh yeah, me neither obviously,” Virgil said. “That’s hardly the only great thing about it. It just could have made Simba and Nala’s relationship different is all I’m thinking.”

Roman didn’t reply this time, and after a second Virgil seemed to take notice and glanced back up. He paused and stood up straighter when he noticed both of their faces.

“Wait, did I touch a nerve or something?” he asked, setting the inventory sheet down.

“Don’t worry about it,” Roman said, but he turned away, and Remus looked down at his hands and started to fidget.

“Oh shit, I really did,” Virgil said. “I’m sorry. I got it, soulmates are off limits.”

“It’s not that, it’s just…” Roman said hesitantly, but he trailed off. Remus glanced up at him, and he glanced back again.

“Dude, you don’t need to explain,” Virgil said. “It’s okay. If you don’t want to talk about it, we won’t talk about it. Anyway, obviously Be Prepared is Disney’s best villain song, but do you have a preference in regards to the second best? I’m torn between Poor Unfortunate Souls and The Mob Song from Beauty and The Beast.”

Remus glanced over at Virgil, surprised to find him moving on so comfortably. He really didn’t seem bothered in the slightest. Granted, Remus didn’t have much of a perspective on how important soulmates were in general society, but it was all anyone ever seemed to talk to him about growing up. He wasn’t expecting Virgil to be so comfortable writing it off as a subject entirely.

“Uh,” Roman said, seeming just as caught off guard as Remus was. “I think I prefer The Mob Song. It’s a good cautionary tale about thinking critically. Sorry, I need to back up for a second. You’re just okay with not talking about soulmates? At all?”

Virgil looked back over at him. “Yeah. Is that bad? You didn’t seem to want me to.”

“But…” Roman glanced over at Remus again. Remus shrugged.

“It’s just not usually something we get to wiggle our way out of,” Remus said, turning back to Virgil. “It’s, you know, soulmates. We always have to deal with it.”

Virgil raised an eyebrow. “Always? What soulmate obsessed nuthouse did you grow up in?”

Remus flinched hard, taking a couple steps back, and Roman stepped closer to him.

“None of your business,” Roman snapped at Virgil, who was now looking thoroughly confused and a little offended.

“Dude, you’re the ones who keep bringing it up now,” Virgil said, holding up his hands. “I was totally cool dropping it and moving on.”

“I’m taking my break,” Remus said, turning around and running off before either of them could say anything else.

Instead of the break room, however, he headed straight for the employee bathroom and locked himself inside. Thankfully, it was a single person bathroom, meaning Remus was free to slide down to the floor and slam his head back against the door and slow his breathing without anyone watching him.

Virgil was going to figure it out now, and then he was going to call Remus’ nuthouse and get him shipped back there and Remus couldn’t take going back there. He’d rather die, and that was not hyperbole.

A knock came at the door. “Remus?” Roman called. “Remus, it’s okay. It’s just me. Virgil’s not here.”

Remus reached up and turned the handle just enough so the door would unlock, then scooted forward so Roman could open the door and buried his head in his knees.

“Hey,” Roman said, locking the door behind him and moving around to kneel in front of Remus.

“This is the stupidest fucking freak out of all time,” Remus said into his pants. “He literally fucking said we didn’t have to talk about it and then we didn’t shut up about it.”

“It’s… new,” Roman said hesitantly, putting a hand on Remus’ arm. “It’s okay. We’re figuring this out together, remember?”

Remus mumbled some kind of weak affirmation, because Roman was right but also he wasn’t doing so hot.

Roman squeezed his arm gently. “Re? Can I help you somehow?”

Remus pulled his head up. “Can you tell me I’m okay?”

Roman’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“Can you say it anyway?” Remus said, answering his unasked question with another question. “Even though I’m kind of not?”

Roman nodded, and pulled Remus forward into a hug. “You’re okay, Remus,” he said. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

Remus took a deep breath in and wrapped his arms around Roman. And for a while, they sat there breathing.

…

They explained some of it to Virgil, afterwards. Or, well, they explained it but they didn’t. They told him that the two of them were platonic soulmates, and most people where they’d come from had been super not okay with that, and they were used to some kind of angry or condescending reaction when they explained.

Virgil said, again, that he got it, and they didn’t have to talk about it, which he’d apparently meant the first time. He also offered to tell Janus so they didn’t have to have a repeat of the conversation, which they took him up on.

So after that, they had a job in a cool place with cool people, who were really actually okay with not talking about soulmates. And Remus was pretty sure it was still going to take him a while to get used to that, but that was okay. They weren’t in a rush.

...

Chapter Five

#sanders sides #remus sanders #roman sanders #virgil sanders #Janus Sanders #creativitwins #platonic dukexiety #platonic prinxiety #platonic dukeceit #platonic roceit #my fic

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mimssides · 6 months

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"I Wish I Could Believe You"

Prompt from @lost-in-thought-20: one of the Sides has overworked themselves. The other goes to check up on them and tries to get the overworked Side to swear not to do it again.

Link to the story on AO3 | Masterpost | Taglist

___

It takes a liar to know a liar.

It takes someone who likes working hard and well to recognise when someone forgot why they liked their work in the first place.

It takes a perfectionist to recognise when someone’s critiquing only becomes a stalling technique.

So, this turn of events doesn’t surprise him. Maybe he should have picked up on it a little quicker but he has needed time after the wedding to compress and figure out what to do next. Everything until that point has been so rushed . Everybody has been on edge and tried to not piss anyone else off, which in did piss everybody off even more.

He has decided to hold his cards close to the chest for once and just didn’t say too much. He started to think. And he found a few things in his thoughts. One was that he shouldn’t have rushed into that debate after the wedding. That he shouldn’t have jumped the gun and let things escalate the way they did.

That the insults between him and the other most dramatic side should never have been taken as seriously as the were. He shouldn’t have said his half and he shouldn’t have gotten so upset about the words that were thrown at him.

But he also realised one more thing: that it was over now. Now all things are said and done and for once in his life he stands with both feet right on the ground. Yes, it is a setback, yes, it hurts, yes, it is hard. But it is also the clearest he’s felt in years. Finally, he knows what the doesn’t want and what Thomas might need.

He’s at the bottom and he’s working his way back up. He doesn’t show it to the others yet. He doesn’t interact much with Patton, gets along with others better and lets them believe he was still upset with Patton for everything that has happened.

Is it fair, one asks? No, it is not, he’d answer if someone would ask. But it is also not fair how Patton got away with a lot of shit only because no one dared to talk back to him. Himself included. He should have spoken up sooner but alas. The past can’t be changed and finally he feels ready to move on forward.

And in that task he starts to watch everyone a bit closer. Observe a little better, listen a tiny bit harder. And my, it makes all the difference. He’s starting to understand where everything went bad, to see how they made each other and in addition Thomas miserable. He sees how the original “light” sides played each other in a corner, three edges of a triangle, all opposed, all too extreme for each other, eradicating nuance and moderation between them over decades and decades of living together. He sees how the original “dark” sides fall out more and more with each other. He sees that their bond, forged by exclusion and otherness, was breaking bit by bit, as they all are pulled into more and more different directions.

And then of course he notices him. He sees the subtleness of his suave comments. The way he forces himself to make it seem like nothing of it affects him all. He sees the lingering looks he believes to be hidden. He sees the longing of connection, of something true and stable.

He isn’t sure how he should approach him. There are a few opportunities as of late; after the first meeting with Nico, the little song he shared with Patton. He takes none of them.

In the end, it is a normal afternoon when it happens. He goes down to the living room in the search for a snack when he sees him sitting at the table. His hair is messy, face close to a paper, which was laying on the table. Virgil is holed up in his room, Patton and Logan stuck in the Library of Thomas’ Memory reorganizing the latest short time experiences, Remus creating chaos and anarchy in the Imagination. And he himself is supposed to work on the next script. So, no one should be here. He should be alone and free to worry about his work and be allowed to not focus on the mask he has put up around all of them.

But well, things don’t always go as planned, he thinks with a smirk and saunters over to the table and pulls out the chair in front of the other side.

Gold glints in his eyes as he looks up in shock. He has not expected him and tries to recover the mask but he doesn’t let him. He reaches for he paper in front of him and takes it. Lazily he looks over the words, sees that it is a schedule he must be review for Logan and raises his eyebrow.

“So Logan wants your help with scheduling?” he asks.

The other hisses and grabs the schedule back from him. Then the mask slowly slips back on, the face turning into the slight annoyed and bored expression it always carried and he looks at his gloved fingers.

“And naturally that is any of your business because...?” he says with lazy snarl.

He laughes. The others eyes dart over his face. He knows that he cannot read him. He knows his mask has been better than his.

“Deceit, honey,” Roman hums and leans his head on his had as he sets his elbow on the table, “I thought you were smarter than this.”

Panic sets in. Roman knows Janus cannot flee but he sees that he sure as hell wants to flee.

“Don’t you think about it.”

With a gulp the other replies: “I wouldn’t know what you mean.”

Roman sighs. He looks at Janus’ hands and then back up to the snake. Something changes. Roman can see that suddenly something changes in Janus’ perception of him and he knows he has a chance to finally make a change.

“It’s time for a break.”

He says it and scenes of Janus standing with Patton in the kitchen as the cook and clean the dishes, Janus picking up Virgil’s shoes and putting them away, Janus laying out Logan’s notpad and favourite pen on the kitchen table before the latter gets to his brainstorm session, Janus catching one of Remus’ knives from another Rube-Goldberg-Machine he’s building, play in front of his eye.

Janus hesitates.

“I took one only thirty minutes ago,” he says.

“I wish I could believe you.”

“Pardon me?”

“What time is it now?”

Janus hesitates again. Roman’s features soften. He can wait. He’s become quite good at waiting lately and he doesn’t mind to prove that to Janus now.

It is enough. Janus answers.

“It is 11.”

Roman knows his expression gets even softer. Janus blinks. He realises his mistake and his thoughts shuffle. Roman stops them as he stretches his hand out.

“It’s 2.30,” Roman says very, very gently.

He looks at him and closes his eyes with a smile when he finally puts his hand in his.

“There we go,” he whispers and lets his warmth seep into Janus body. “Let’s go to my room. I’ve got a nice relaxing bath ready for you, your snakiness.”

“Do you now?”

There is mirth in Janus voice.

“I do indeed,” Roman laughs and pulls the pliant snake up to his feet.

Something in his chest hammers hard and he catches Janus’ snake eye. It is dilated and curious on him. He thinks about the mistakes he made. About the pile he’s amassed over the years and years, the insults and jabs he would never be able to take back.

He thinks about the way he has pained him for years and years without thinking twice about it.

“We’re both familiar with failure,” it comes suddenly from Janus.

Roman glimpses over his shoulder to him. He stares at the floor. Maybe a tinge of regret on the blush of his human cheek.

“We both haven’t learnt from our mistakes. We certainly can’t move on.”

And at once Roman’s chest feels light. He inhales. And for once it reaches his lungs, his belly, his veins, his feet. And he smiles.

He genuinely smiles.

“We can. I think we can-” he pulls him closer and begins to sink them both into his room - “Janus.”

___

Taglist:

@vexelore

@exhaustedfander

@alexisrealgay

@wolfs-feder

@just-a-neoclassical-painting

@winter-jay-official

@a-ghostlight-for-roman

@mychemically-imbalanced-romance

@whattheremus

@regalredrose

@spellingwillbethedeathofme

@sarenicide

#eir writes #platonic roceit #roman sanders #janus sanders #ts roman #ts Janus #sanders sides #tss #tss fanfic #please reblog

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thatgenderlessentity · 10 months

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Janus- Roman, what's with the face? Look around. Everybody's here.

Roman- Yeah, I know. I just... I know I'm missing something. What am I forgetting? Me. Me. I'm forgetting Me. I... I should've been in hair and makeup. Definitely an outfit change.

Janus- Who cares? Look what's happening tonight is special. Be in the moment, here, now.

Source: DC's Legends of Tomorrow

#sanders sides #sanders sides incorrect quotes #ts janus #janus sanders #ts roman #roman sanders #source: DC's Legends of Tomorrow #ts roceit #platonic roceit #romantic roceit #roceit

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thecrowslullaby · 1 year

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Bad things happen bingo: Roman for being grabbed by the chin?

Warnings: kidnapping, violence, mention of slavery, threats, descriptions of injury

this is a fresh out of the owen draft, with no editing and crunchy spelling errors. Enjoy :D

words:1111 (it's perfect. I'm patting myself on the back for accidentally doing this xd)

ships: platonic roceit (no, the nameless background character isn't Logan)

Roman had spent his youth dreaming of becoming a prince ever since the old story teller passed through their little town. Charming the children with his grand adventures and flute. Roman amongst them.

But from all the tales Janus insisted weren’t true, the one of the little prince with silver eyes who saved his people from an evil sorcerer stuck with Roman the most. He wanted to meet him. He wanted to be like him. Daring and kind and smart and beloved by his people. His people.Janus had rolled his eyes every time Roman laid his plans on becoming a prince before him, but for his next birthday the blond had sewn him a red cape with untrained fingers.

“Just don’t leave me when you become king.”“I promise!” Roman grinned, hugging his friend despite his protests. “I’m gonna take us both to a castle!”

He still had the cape that Janus had gifted him for his eight birthday tucked away under his bed like a precious gemstone. But just like the promise it seemed nothing more than wishful thinking.

Who would have thought it would become a nightmare instead.

It was some odd job Janus and him were so prone to taking to earn a bit of money to help their families. He enjoyed them. He was sure Janus did too, even if he was rather loud in his complaints to anyone who would listen. And today’s victim seemed to be one of the boys from a nearby village, who tagged along on their walk, claiming he needed to pick up some ointment for his mother. But from the red on his ears whenever Janus smiled his way Roman was sure that wasn’t the only intention. If Janus noticed he certainly didn’t mind.

Roman tried to hide his smirk as he laid out plans on how to tease his friend about the unexpected crush when his mind was suddenly dragged back into reality by a sharp scream of pain.

He didn’t have time to even open his mouth before some shoved him forward, sending him tumbling to the ground. He hissed as his elbows hit the cold sand. He tried to turn but a boot found it’s way onto his back, pushing him down.

“Janus.”

“Quiet.” The brute hissed, slamming his foot against Roman’s shoulder, drawing a pained gasp. In all the dashing adventures he imagined for himself he never went down as quickly. He couldn’t go down now.

He moved his palms closer to his chest, pushing himself off the ground in one swift motion. He felt the weight on his shoulder fall back off with a yelp and Roman quickly scrambled to his feet, scanning the surroundings with a ferocity of a wild animal sentenced to dinner. There were seven of them, one on the ground, dangerously close to Roman’s feet. Two more were holding down Janus, the fourth one had a sword pressed against the villager’s throat. The last three were staring daggers at Roman, weapons glistering dangerously in the evening sun.

“That was a real dumb move, boy.” The one in the middle growled, taking a step forward, the other two followed. Roman’s thoughts jumping between getting help and diving fist first to save Janus when something grabbed his leg. He had just enough time to curse himself for not moving away from his opponent before his chest hit the ground once again. Laughter followed, ringing in his ears.

Those bruises won’t be looking pretty tomorrow. But then again being able to witness tomorrow sounded short of a miracle right now.

The one who spoke, most likely their leader, leaned down to grab Roman’s shirt and yank him up. His face splitting into a cruel smile. He opened his mouth but words never came. And suddenly something entirely different settled into his features. Surprise.

“Boss?”

The leader's hand found its way to Roman’s chin, lifting it up. The gesture would have been gentle if not for the way the bandit’s nails dug into Roman’s skin.

“Say boys.” The crook began, that wicked look returning to his features as he turned Roman’s face back and forth like he was nothing more than a ragdoll. “He does look awfully lot like the Nothian prince, does he not?”

The other goons crouched down next to the man, and Roman felt panic as their smiles widened.

“What are you doing all the way here, your highness?” The title sounded almost like a mockery and for all Roman knew it might have very well been.

“I-”He opened his mouth, desperately trying to wrap his racing thoughts around the situation, but Janus cut him off.

“If you know who he is, you’d better let us go or-”

His friend didn’t have the chance to finish as the goons started laughing. The leader let go of Roman’s face, sliding to his feet with an air of uncanny elegance. He strode slowly over to where the of the goons were still holding Janus, but his voice carried anger when he spoke.

“Do you take us for stupid, runt?”

“Do you really want me to dignify that with an-” His sentence was caught short with a fist aimed into the middle of his stomach.

“Janus.”

“Now.” The leader grabbed at Janus' hair, yanking it back so the blond would look at him. “For your sake I hope you learn as fast as you think, because I will only say this once.” He leaned closer to Janus and Roman could almost hear the smile in his voice. “You either keep your tongue behind your lips or I’m going to take it out, permanently. Are we clear?”

He heard Janus grunt something back. The leader, seemingly satisfied with the answer, leaned away with a chuckle. He turned back to Roman and the teen felt his mouth run dry.

“Please let us go.”

The man chuckled again.

“As I see it, you have three options.” He began circling around Roman as he spoke. “One. We kill you for a quick coin, but I’m afraid that would benefit no one.” He chuckled again. “Two, we sell you to the nearest slaver that is willing to cash out enough coin for our trouble, which will be a quick and painless. Well, for us-” one of the goons snickered “But I assure you, that’s not a pleasant life. There is variety for sure. A mine, a field, a brothel, I’m sure they will find some use for you.”

“And the third option?” Roman whispered.

The man stopped in front of him, leaning down with a smile that made Roman’s blood run cold.

“The top of a palace.”

#platonic roceit #ts janus #ts roman #roman sanders #janus sanders #ts fic #sanders sides #sanders sides fic #crowtent #cawtent #bad things happen bingo #kidnapping #violence #mention of slavery #threats #descriptions of injury #this would have a happy ending and logince #but i have neither time nor patience to write 100k+ of this adventure and romance

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just-a-little-anxious · 1 year

Text

Roman: "It's so weird being engaged now. Like, it's truly starting to hit me that I'm really not going to die alone! No offense."

Janus: "None taken."

Janus: "Until you said 'no offense'."

#my posts #sanders sides incorrect quotes #sanders sides #tss incorrect quotes #tss roman #tss janus #janus sanders #roman sanders #platonic roceit #roman x side

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loganslowdown4 · 1 year

Text

Roman: *wakes up on the couch* Wait...where am I?

Janus: *sarcastically* In heaven.

Roman: Oh good.

Roman: Didn’t think you’d be here.

#I want more biting wit between them #I need it #thomas sanders #sanders sides #roman sanders #ts roman #incorrect sanders sides #Janus sanders #ts janus #roceit #platonic roceit #ts roceit #enemies to lovers roceit lol

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lily-janus · 2 years

Text

We See Each Other Only In Hamilton Sing-Alongs

Summary: Janus and Roman are left alone in the mindscape... this might turn out better than you think..

Pairing: Roceit

Warnings: pretty sure none but be sure to let me know if I missed anything.

Disclaimer: this work features original lyrics by Lin-Manual Miranda from his musical Hamilton.

Word count: 1,056

Janus woke up in a start to an all too familiar sound of what is, undoubtedly, the famous musical Hamilton.

The others were helping Thomas today which he figured means he'll finally have the mindscape to himself, even Remus was absent. But he should have guessed he wouldn't be so lucky, guess he's not the only one not needed today…

With a groan he got up and snapped his regular outfit on before walking to the common area and stopping suddenly at the bottom of the stairs.

Roman wasn't just putting on the musical for background music, no, the prince was full on singing along and performing the songs, clearly thinking he's alone.

He hadn't noticed Janus yet and, after he got over his shock, he was content to watch him smugly from the sidelines. It was very entertaining.

Then, Janus' favorite song for… reasons we will not discuss, started playing, The Room Where It Happens.

He wasn't sure what drove him, maybe he just wanted to relish Roman's look on his face when Janus seemingly joined him out of nowhere, maybe he just loved the song too much not to sing along with it.

But for whatever reason, Janus began singing with Arron Burr as he stepped into the middle of the room and right next to the fanciful side. The shock was present on his face, yes, but he was still an actor absorbed in a performance, and he quickly continued with Hamilton's lines and before either of them realized, they were performing together.

"Did you hear the news about good old general mercer?" Janus asked Roman smoothly.

"No" Roman answered simply, adoring a curious look.

"You know Clermont street?" Janus started explaining with a smirk. "They renamed it after him. The Mercer legacy is secured."

"Sure." Roman shrugged lightly.

"And all he had to do was die." Janus mused.

"Now that's a lot less work." Roman chuckled.

"We oughta give it a try." Janus smirked and Roman let out a little laugh.

They were getting more and more into character, resentment and painful history forgotten for the sake of performing their roles in the song.

All too soon, the song came to an end and with a snap of Roman's fingers, the music died down, leaving the two sides in awkward silence.

"Deceit… I… didn't realize you were here." Roman said quietly, not meeting his eyes.

Janus shrugged. "My services weren't needed today." Then he smirked. "Looks like you were having fun."

Roman blushed and scowled at him. "Haven't you mocked me enough, snake?"

Janus raised his hands in surrender. "I was just teasing, here I thought we were getting along."

"Yeah? Well think again, I don't associate with deceitful evil doers." Roman folded his arms over his chest in defiance.

"Oh come now, is that a way to speak to a fellow Hamilton fan?" Janus smirked challengingly at Roman.

"Your taste in music has nothing to do with this! And knowing one song doesn't make you a true fan such as myself anyway." Roman scoffed.

Janus raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what if I told you I know the entire musical by heart? Will that per-chance put me on the same pedestal you put yourself at?" Janus asked smoothly.

Roman burst into a boastful laugh for a few moments before seeing Janus' expression hadn't changed. "Oh, you're serious. You kidding me? You? Quite with the lying, we both know that can't possibly be true."

Janus smirked with satisfaction, that was exactly the reaction he was aiming for. "Is that a challenge I hear?"

"With you? I'd rather fight venomous snakes than do anything with you." Roman spat.

Janus sighed dramatically. "I see, I get it, you're intimidated, understandably so. I'll leave you be then." He turned to go up the stairs.

"Don't think I don't see what you're doing!" Roman called after him. "Your tricks won't work on me anymore!"

"I'm terribly sorry but I don't speak cowardly." Janus smirked, snickering to himself.

"You think you're better than me, snake? Bring it on." Roman at last relented, like Janus knew he would.

He turned back to face the prince. "If you insist." He snapped his fingers and the first song of the musical started playing. "The first who forgets the lyrics loses."

"You're on."

-------------------------------------------------------

"Careful how you proceed, good man

Intemperate indeed, good man

Answer for the accusations I lay at your feet or

Prepare to bleed, good man" Janus sang to Roman warringly, so far neither of them forgot the lyrics and they were nearing the end of the play.

"Burr, your grievance is legitimate

I stand by what I said, every bit of it

You stand only for yourself

It’s what you do

I can’t apologize because it’s true." Roman proceeded without faltering.

"Um… I'm not the only one seeing this, right?" Virgil whispered to the other three sides beside him, staring at the two enemies perform and sing alongside each other.

"Oh ho, you know I see it! Go off Janny!" Remus whooped excitedly before either of the sides had time to try and shoosh him.

The music stopped abruptly and both sides turned sharply towards the group.

"H-hey guys! How long have you been standing there?" Roman smiled shyly.

Logan rolled his eyes. "Long enough, believe me. If you need me, I'll be in my room." He said and quickly sank out.

"That was some great performing kiddos!" Patton smiled cheerfully.

"Oh… thanks Pat."

"Oh don't sound so surprised." Janus and Roman said together.

Patton giggled. "Glad you two are getting along." He winked and sank out as well.

"Well, you two seem to be having fun." Remus shimmied his shoulders.

"Okay! I'm going to pretend like I never saw and heard that." Virgil shuddered and disappeared.

"Virge, wait! It's not what it looks like-" Roman called after as he sank out as well.

"So…" Remus grinned at Janus. "You and my brother…"

Janus' cheeks flared. "Shut up, Remus." He said and disappeared as well. This was nothing but having fun toying with the prince to stop his boredom, he just… lost track of time.

That didn't stop them, however, from secretly commencing a rematch since their previous one was interrupted before a winner was declared… and a rematch after that since the second ended at a tie…

#hamilton #sanders sides #sanders sides fan fiction #platonic roceit #roman sanders #janus sanders #slight angst #mostly fluff #Lily writes #sing along #self indulgent fic #just thought I'll write this for funnsies #one shot

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anxiouslyfred · 2 years

Note

Janus who becomes a make-up artist for reasons like 1. it's a socially acceptable way of lying by altering your appearance 2. no-one can comment on them using make-up (to cover a burn/birthmark/hide vitiligo? i'm just picturing Janus getting brutally bullied for something beyond their control as a kid, discovering make-up, and then still getting bullied for using make-up) 3. i'm just thinking of that "if the men find out we can shapeshift, they're going to tell the church" video tbh, it fits Janus so well as an attitude

So writing this reminded me that I can often find questions to be the worse kind of bullying because you can't always tell what the motivations behind asking them are. Fun times.

I loved your ideas and decided to carry on with this as the prompt to write today.

What Eyes See

Janus had never really been ashamed of his scars. Any child could get injured during play, or by the animals around them if their parents didn't pay reasonable attention to them or teach them how to treat creatures gently. They weren't even ashamed of their parents for failing to avoid the situation they got their scars from.

They were however immeasurably done with the questions people freely asked constantly. Just because the scars were on their face did not mean every randomer on the street was invited to know the story of them, nor that anyone could judge Janus for their interest in all animals, including the type that had injured them.

That had been the original reason they picked up some foundation, hoping the make-up could disguise the scar. The effect was poor, worse than useless as Janus would describe it. Their unskilled attempt to hide the scars rather emphasised them and blending the foundation over their entire face felt uncomfortable that first time, as if trying to form a mask from paints.

Janus wasn't known for giving up though and they turned to research, online tutorials at first. They were a little frustrated by the amount of focus videos and tutorials places on eyeshadow, or just the various types of make-up used around the eyes. While the colours could be pretty a lot of it seemed more extreme and noticeable than they'd want for daily use, especially coming from all the attention having been on the scars around their eyes up until now.

Courses for beauticians were where research into shaping and toning the face led Janus next. They'd amended the searches each time they tried to find ways to cover up their scars until the online tutorials focused on shaping. It was the most useful thing they'd learnt for covering up the scars, especially when a few youtube channels they'd found came out with the reverse, teaching people how to give themselves scars with make-up for Halloween.

It was a spiral staircase they'd started following by trying to hide their scars and now wanted to find the end of, whether that be professionally doing make-up or figuring out how to make themself and others look utterly different from some application of highlighters and darker tones.

The course itself interested Janus too, since it wasn't specified in where it could lead the students taking it career wise. People could take it for their own enjoyment, or they could be trying to be a professional make-up artist for weddings and other important events. Most interesting the them however were the descriptions of how theatre's could ask for make-up artists to transform their actors according to need and roles.

Janus looked up character archetypes, things like the cowboy, the prince, the wise elder, the damsel in distress. They spent time in front of the mirror trying to shape their face to the characters, even occasionally figuring out how a character would use body language to convey who they are. They remembered character studies that were assigned in literature classes and found making them physical by acting and creating make-up looks far more effective for understanding.

They asked at the local theatres and city halls if there were any groups who could use a make-up artist on the staff and were amused when each time they went in the receptionists never recognised them. Janus was enjoying the contouring and shaping of their face almost as much as they enjoyed the peace of nobody realising they had scars.

“You seem tired today.” One of the actors commented a few months into Janus taking on occasional shows as the make-up artist.

They paused for a moment, because that wasn't someone asking who they were. It was a comment normally made to a friend, or at least acquaintance regularly met. “It was just a poor nights sleep, Darling. Nothing that will impede on making you the most lovely prince in the world.” They crooned after a moment, not expecting the actor to shake his head and lean away from their steadying hands.

“No. You've been expecting something to be said for a while and I've not figured out what. Today you're taking your time more, pausing to think before choosing shades slightly closer together than usual to use on me. Is there something wrong?” His eyes were piercing, and Janus almost cursed themself for having done the eyeliner already to emphasise the imploring stare.

“How do you even recognise me? I've had to introduce myself to basically everyone every single day I come in.” They countered, fairly sure they wouldn't avoid the conversation this actor was set on having.

He rolled his eyes. “You're Janus, ever slightly pretentious and with a sharp tongue to lash anyone away from you with. You're also the only member of our back-stage crew who wears enough make-up you could probably join us on stage without looking out of place and you are splendid for it. Now let me help with whatever is bothering you.”

Janus frowned, felling uncomfortable with how well this actor had perceived them. They only just managed to remember his name was Roman with how ready they'd remained detached from the people they worked with. It was safer that way, less questions they didn't want to answer for people they barely knew, and less chance of getting hurt if those questions are turned into cruelty. “Roman, I'm just having a bad day and slept poorly. Will you let me finish your make-up sometime before you have to go on stage?”

“Promise me that nobody here has done or said anything to make your day worse.” Roman insisted, still avoiding the hand reaching toward him so Janus could continue with the make-up.

“Just some strangers on the street. Nobody worth getting so energetic over.” They confirmed, shaking their head when a grim but satisfied nod was given. “And if you want to know what was said then merely leave your make-up on as you leave here today. I'm sure someone else will be available to share their comments with you.”

Roman chuckled lowly, “They'll find I'm far less likely to walk away from them with just a few sharp words than you are.”

#lance #janus sanders #roman sanders #platonic roceit #protective roman #bullying mentions #make-up artist janus

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roceitweek · 2 years

Note

Will there be an ao3 collection for rociet week?

Why yes!

I just finished making it, here's a link for everyone who needs it! :) https://archiveofourown.org/collections/Roceitweek2022/profile

#roceit #roceitweek2022 #roman sanders #janus sanders #sanders sides #roceitweek #ts roceit #sanders sides ship #familial roceit #platonic roceit #romantic roceit #ao3

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fangirlwriting-stories · 10 months

Text

Protector

Chapter One

Chapter Thirty-Seven:

Janus woke up with a splitting headache that almost felt worse than the hole in his chest.

He groaned and pushed himself up, dropping his head in his hands and rubbing at his face.

Well, today was the backup to his pushed back deadline. He had to get out of his room sometime today. He’d have to find a way to deal with everyone’s hatred. He’d made Virgil and Remus put up with it for long enough, after all, and turnabout’s fair play.

And if Remus was right and Virgil really would be worried about him if he stayed in his room all day, then Janus wanted him to be focusing on anything else but that. He deserved a chance to recover. Besides, he could give Virgil plenty of space outside his room too.

Janus checked on Thomas in the corner of his mind as he climbed out of bed. Not any better than he was yesterday, not that that was a surprise. He wouldn’t really get better until Virgil returned.

Or, well, maybe that wasn’t entirely true. Thomas wasn’t really good, obviously. But he didn’t seem to be having breakdowns while smiling anymore, which was a definite plus.

He must have the others to thank for that. Janus was glad they were fixing things. Just because they weren’t going to be his family anymore didn’t mean he didn’t love them dearly. He’d just have to want good things for them from a distance. It would be fine.

Janus looked around his room, trying to find some excuse to hang out here for another couple hours. He’d be a lousy Deceit if he didn’t try and put off the inevitable for as long as possible.

Janus winced.

He was a lousy Deceit.

Well then.

Janus took a deep breath, snapped his clothes on because he was still feeling lazy, and walked over to his door. He took one more deep breath and pulled it open.

He was met with the surprised face of Patton who had held his hand up to knock, now just hanging in midair. Behind him were Roman and Logan, looking just as surprised.

For a good ten seconds, all of them just stared at each other.

Finally, Patton seemed to come to his senses with a jerk.

“Janus! Here, this—” he reached into a pocket and pulled something out. “This is for you!” He shoved a piece of paper at Janus’ chest, and Janus took it without getting a chance to really look at it.

He swallowed. “Okay. I’ll look at it later, if that’s okay,” he said, not surprised at how scratchy his voice came out. It had been a while since he’d talked.

“I— I think you should look at it now, Janus,” Roman said.

Janus squeezed his eyes shut. “Do we have to do this now?”

“We do,” Logan said firmly.

Janus sighed, and looked down at the paper.

He honestly hadn’t been sure what it would be. Maybe some kind of list of demands, or new boundaries they hadn’t wanted to say to his face.

He hadn’t expected a simple card. The front read “Ur Fam” and Janus opened it to find “ILY” written on one side and the four of them drawn on the other.

He looked up, trying to hide any emotion from coming through on his face. “What is this?”

“We just wanted to make something to make you feel better, kiddo,” Patton said.

“Why.”

“Janus,” Roman said softly.

“Honestly, just go,” Janus said, crossing his arms. “I don’t want to try and have this conversation, okay? We all know what’s going to happen.”

“We don’t know that, Janus,” Logan said. “It is impossible to know the outcome of events that have not taken place.”

“And yet the impossible is occurring,” Janus said with a cool glare, leaning against his doorframe. “Please don’t patronize me. Just go and do what you wanted to before you came here.”

“Janus,” Roman said, stepping forward and crossing his arms. “This is exactly where we all want to be.”

Janus gripped the side of the doorframe. “Don’t lie to me, Roman.”

“He’s not lying, Janus,” Patton said. “Could you please just hear us out?”

Janus didn’t say anything for a moment. He wasn’t exactly thrilled at the idea of talking with them all only to be inevitably disappointed when it went exactly how he expected it to go. But he probably owed them something of an explanation. And if this was going to have to happen eventually, it was probably better to get it all out of the way.

Janus sighed, long and exhausted. “Fine.”

He stepped back inside his room and walked over to lean back against his desk, letting the other three walk in. Logan came through last and closed the door behind them.

“What do you want to know then?” Janus asked, looking tiredly up at them.

“We’re not here to interrogate you, Janus,” Logan said.

“Then what do you want?” Janus asked, looking up at the ceiling.

“We’re here to check on you, kiddo,” Patton said softly. “We figured you’re probably not doing too good.”

“You don’t need to worry about it,” Janus snapped. “I’ll be fine.”

“Falsehood,” Logan said, raising an eyebrow.

“I will be fine,” Janus insisted.

“That is not what I was referring to, though I doubt that is true either.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Of course we need to worry about it,” Logan said. “You’re our family, Janus.”

Janus tensed.

“And that’s why we’re here too,” Roman said. “To make sure you know we’re not going to get rid of you just because you made a few mistakes.”

Janus grit his teeth. “Well, I didn’t realize you were all so exceedingly stupid then,” he hissed.

“Janus,” Patton said. “Stop it.”

“I did not make a few mistakes,” Janus said. “I made many large mistakes. Mistakes that badly harmed other sides and Thomas.”

“And ostracizing you would not remedy those mistakes,” Logan said, raising an eyebrow. “It would actually be quite a bad idea. It has not seemed to be successful in the past.”

“You misunderstand, Logan, that’s just a reason to get rid of the problem entirely,” Janus said, spreading his arms.

“You’re not a problem, Janus,” Patton said.

“Well I’m a failure then,” Janus said. “And it seems that it would be a much better idea to simply get rid of failures entirely.”

“You are not a failure,” Roman said firmly.

“Yes I am.”

“Janus—”

“Please do not twist facts just to make me feel better, Roman,” Janus said. “I am a failure. I failed to protect Anxiety and Remus, I failed to protect Thomas, and I failed to properly guard the others.”

“How does that make you a failure?” Logan asked. “I thought that part of your job was only to assess whether Thomas was ready to meet the others.”

“Yes, you thought that because I lied to you about it,” Janus snapped. “But I suppose I also lied to you about my function as a whole, so I guess I did part of my job alright.”

Well, maybe he shouldn’t have said that, because now everyone was staring at him. Or maybe he should have said that. Maybe this was how he got them to leave.

“Did I not mention that?” Janus said, rolling his eyes and trying to act like he didn’t care. “My original function was Deceit. I figured none of the core sides would really like having a side like that around, so I lied about it. Seems rather fitting.”

Patton made a wounded noise, which Janus was going to pretend didn’t sting. “You lied about it for fifteen years?”

“Yes, because I’m not a good side to have around,” Janus said. “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. I lied about that and I lied about what my job was and then I tried to cover up all of those lies when Anxiety and Remus came here. And all of that caused all of this. So why don’t you all get rid of me and be better off for it?”

Patton took a couple steps across the room and wrapped his arms around Janus with no warning. Janus stiffened in surprise, but Patton just squeezed him tighter.

“Janus,” he said. “Didn’t you know we love you for you?”

Janus scoffed and pushed Patton off of him. “Oh stop it,” he said. “How naive do you think I am?”

“Janus you moron, you’re our family, not someone we’re interviewing to hire,” Roman snapped.

“Roman is correct,” Logan said. “You are not going to drive us away by telling us that your job is different from what we’ve thought.”

“I can’t drive you away by lying to you for as long as I’ve known you? What would it take, then?” Janus asked, rolling his eyes.

“A lot worse than anything you’ve done,” Roman said plainly.

Janus scoffed. “Get out.”

“Do you think we’re lying to you?” Logan said, raising an eyebrow.

“Of course you are. You can’t forgive me just like that.”

“And why is that?” Patton asked, putting his hands on his hips.

“I’ve done despicable things. I don’t deserve it.”

“It’s not about deserve, Janus,” Roman said. “And you can’t decide that for us.”

Janus looked between the three of them. “Try me.”

“Excuse me?” Logan said.

“I said try me,” Janus said, and he reached out and shoved all three of them from his room. He heard the beginnings of Patton crying “Wait!” before they were all gone.

Then he sat down at his desk and put his head in his hands.

…

Janus felt it when Virgil came back. Thankfully, he was holding up Remus’ end of the bargain, and he was down in the kitchen when it happened making something to eat. He did imagine Remus hadn’t exactly been suggesting that Janus sneak out in the middle of the night to do everything. But Janus was going to keep his room firmly locked unless some unforeseen circumstance happened, like Remus or Virgil or Thomas needed him. For some reason.

He did head up and look for Remus for this one reason, though. He imagined Remus would forgive him, just this once.

Janus knocked on his door, and it was less than two seconds later that Remus had opened his door and was glaring at him.

“I thought I told you—”

“Virgil’s back,” Janus said, pointing at the door right next to them.

Remus froze, and for a second Janus was almost sure he imagined a look of terror that flashed across his face.

“Remus?”

“Did I say you could speak?” Remus snapped, but his voice was shaking, and so were his hands, and now he was backing into his room and leaving the door wide open.

Well. This was a terrible idea.

“Remus, what’s wrong?” Janus asked, pushing the door open further as he walked into the room.

Remus shook his head, turning around to face away from Janus. “Can’t go see him,” he said, burying his hands in his hair and pulling again.

“Don’t do that,” Janus said, walking forward and pulling them down.

“I said don’t touch me!” Remus screamed, smacking Janus’ hand away.

“Why can’t you go see Virgil?” Janus asked, lowering his hands.

“It was my idea,” Remus said, turning and sitting down against the desk and burying his head in his hands. “The nails. It was my idea. Gave it to Malice when I was bored.”

Janus clenched his hands past the wave of guilt that hit him in the next second.

Get out of your own head. This isn’t about you right now.

“Okay,” Janus said slowly, trying to keep his voice even as he sat down across from Remus. “What does that have to do with going to see Virgil?”

Remus looked up at Janus like he was an idiot, and Janus took a minute to analyze Remus’ face, and found the guilt he saw in the mirror.

“Oh, Remus,” Janus said gently. “It isn’t your fault.”

“Shut up, you don’t know anything,” Remus snapped, burying his head in his knees this time.

“I do know that it isn’t your fault, Remus,” Janus said softly. “That’s too much to put on yourself. You can’t be held responsible for things that Malice did to Virgil.”

“But it was my idea,” Remus insisted. “I gave it to him.”

“Oh, and of course if you hadn’t done that, Malice would have had a complete change of heart and decided not to hurt Virgil at all. Right, that’s what would have happened.”

“Virgil wouldn’t have wanted to die,” Remus whispered. “He would be here.”

“Virgil is here right now,” Janus said softly. “I imagine if you wake him up he’ll be very happy to see you.”

“Or he could hate me because I hurt him,” Remus said, starting to rock back and forth. “And then the only person I’ve ever had would hate me and I’d be totally alone and no one would ever want me ever again—”

“Remus,” Janus said. He reached out and put a hand on Remus’ knee, and Remus jerked upright and stopped rocking.

“Don’t touch me! I told you don’t touch me!”

“I’m sorry,” Janus said, backing up. “I’m sorry, I was trying to help ground you.”

Remus hissed and buried his head in his arms again.

“Remus, please listen,” Janus said. “I know I’m not exactly your favorite side, but I’m who’s here right now, and you need to listen. You’re going to have a panic attack.”

“Fuck you,” Remus snapped weakly.

“Remus please, please look at me.”

There was a long pause, and then Remus slowly pulled his head up and looked at Janus.

“It is absolutely not, in no way, not in the slightest your fault,” Janus said. “No one is going to blame you. Especially not Virgil.”

“How do you know?” Remus said, glaring away, though he sounded more hesitant. “You don’t know anything about me and Virgil.”

Janus winced, but pushed the guilt firmly aside. “Remus, if Virgil can forgive the rest of the core sides, which a lot of his behavior seems to demonstrate he’s done, I doubt he’s even slightly mad at you.”

Remus hesitated, but that seemed to get through to him.

“Will you come see him, at least? I bet he’s ready to be woken up after a week of being gone.”

Remus was quiet for another moment, then finally he nodded. “Okay.”

Janus moved back and waited for Remus to stand up before he did the same, and then he followed Remus out into the hallway and to the next door.

Remus somehow managed to open the door completely silently, but then moved immediately across the room to Virgil’s bed and knelt down on it, and that was all it seemed to take for Virgil to shift and open his eyes.

And, thank Thomas, Janus had been spot on, because the second Virgil saw Remus he sighed in relief and reached up to pull him into a hug, with what looked like very weak arms too.

Virgil glanced over at the door and spotted Janus, which Janus took as his cue to go, and he turned and shut the door quietly after him.

He had one more thing to check before he went to hide back in his room, after all. And he was pretty sure giving Virgil and Remus a moment was the right move.

…

“Thomas?” Janus murmured, quietly just in case he was asleep, but he doubted it.

Sure enough, Thomas was sitting up awake in bed. He was also crying, which didn’t surprise Janus at all. This couldn’t be a fun experience.

Thomas looked up at Janus as he appeared and wiped at his eyes. “Hi Janus,” he said weakly. “How are you doing?”

“I’m fine,” Janus lied instantly, moving to sit on the bed next to Thomas. “I’m here for you right now.”

“It feels like Anxiety’s back,” Thomas said, rubbing at his chest.

“He is,” Janus confirmed. “Are you feeling better?”

“Define ‘better.’”

“Fair enough,” Janus said with a sad smile.

“Are you okay?” Thomas asked again.

Janus clenched his hands together behind his back. “I said I’m alright, Thomas,” he said.

“Are you sure?”

“Why… are you still asking?” Janus said, squeezing his hands together tighter.

Thomas stared at him. “Because your entire world just got flipped on its head, Janus,” he said. “Because I would be devastated and you’re part of me, and because I’m not okay.”

“Well that’s why I’m here,” Janus said, hoping Thomas would just take the hint. “What can I do to help?”

Thomas took a deep breath and wiped at his eyes. “I think I’d like a hug, Janus,” he said, giving Janus a knowing look that Janus did not like.

Janus tensed. “What else can I do?”

“Why don’t you want to do that?”

Janus bit his lip. “No reason in particular. I just think—”

“Is it because you’d like a hug too?”

Janus scoffed and crossed his arms. “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“The others came to talk to me, you know.”

Janus swallowed. “Ah. I’m sure they exaggerated.”

“Oh, did they really?”

“Thomas, I’m trying to help you.”

“Janus. I want you to listen to me now please.”

Janus cursed his inability to deny Thomas something he wanted and sat back, glaring down at the blankets.

“Are you trying to push everyone away?” Thomas asked.

“I don’t understand why they wouldn’t want me to,” Janus muttered.

“That doesn’t answer my question.”

“So what if I am? Why would you care? Why wouldn’t you want me to?”

“Janus,” Thomas said, a pained look in his eyes. “No one hates you.”

“Remus does,” Janus pointed out.

“Remus is different.”

“If you’re trying to say Remus and Anxiety are allowed to hate me then just say it.”

Thomas sighed. “Fine. Yes, Remus and Anxiety are probably allowed to hate you. But that doesn’t mean everyone does, and trying to push everyone away is just going to create more problems, Janus.”

“I already did that,” Janus snapped, pushing himself to a standing position. “I don’t understand why you think you can prevent more problems by keeping me around! Clearly I cause them! I’m trying to fix it for you! I’m trying to make up for the problems I caused!”

Thomas was quiet for a long moment, to the point where Janus stopped breathing heavily and started to worry.

“Thomas?”

“Janus,” Thomas said quietly. “To me it just seems like you’re trying to punish yourself.”

Janus didn’t have a clue what to say.

“I— I’m not—”

“You know that’s not a helpful reaction, right?”

“I—” Janus pulled his hat off so he could hold it to hide the way his hands were shaking. “Thomas, you— you don’t understand. They— I left them there.”

Thomas nodded. “Yes.”

“Why aren’t you angry with me? Why aren’t you screaming at me?”

Thomas gave Janus a pained look. “Could I say anything that would make you feel worse than you already do?”

“I—” Janus’ legs were shaking. “I—”

“Janus,” Thomas stood up and walked over to him, and held out his arms. “Come here.”

“No.”

But Thomas didn’t move, and Janus was pretty sure he was about to collapse, and he couldn’t think of a better place to do it than in between Thomas’ arms.

And he always had been selfish.

Thomas ran his hands through Janus’ hair, and before long Janus was pretty sure they were both crying, though he doubted Thomas could match the heaving sobs Janus was choking out.

Thomas made quiet shushing noises, and Janus hated how much they made him feel better.

“It’s going to be alright,” Thomas murmured.

“Thomas,” Janus managed. “They’re my boys. I left my boys.”

There wasn’t a good response to that and they both knew it, so instead Thomas just shushed him again and kept running his hands through his hair.

“Do you know why the others came to talk to me?” Thomas said after a minute. “They said they were worried you were going to succeed in isolating yourself. I— I didn’t really care then, because I couldn’t, but I do now.”

“Why,” Janus said. His voice sounded like he’d dragged sandpaper over his throat.

“None of us hate you, Janus.”

“I do,” Janus muttered, half on purpose.

Thomas made a wounded noise and tightened his grip.

“Please let us help you,” Thomas whispered.

“I’m supposed to help you, Thomas.”

“You’re part of me,” Thomas said. “I want to help you Janus, please.”

“Why?”

“Because I love you idiot,” Thomas said. “We all do.”

Janus shook his head, but didn’t say anything.

“Are you going to keep trying to push us all away?” Thomas asked.

Janus didn’t say anything.

“Janus? Are you going to stop hurting yourself?”

Janus just ducked his head down further.

“Please, Janus. I don’t want to see you hurt.”

Oh, now that was just mean.

“I’ll try,” Janus whispered.

All of the tension rushed out of Thomas’ body at once, and he sighed in relief and pulled Janus closer.

“Promise you’ll talk to the others?”

“Don’t push it, Sanders.”

Thomas gave a displeased huff, but left it there for now. And for a long while after, the two of them stayed there together.

...

Chapter Thirty-Eight

#sanders sides #janus sanders #patton sanders #roman sanders #logan sanders #remus sanders #virgil sanders #that's right my boy has RETURNED #platonic moceit #platonic roceit #platonic loceit #platonic dukeceit #platonic anxceit #my fic

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naminethewriter · 2 years

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Brothers and Secrets Chapter Three: The Mansion in the Woods

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Summary: Remus set out on his backpacking trip across Europe with a route in mind but no set time frame. So when he suddenly calls Roman as he's about to go to bed and demands to be picked up from the airport, Roman is rightfully caught off guard. As it turns out, Remus has experienced more in those two years than his brother had thought, not only getting himself a boyfriend but also a house to live in with said boyfriend.

There are many things Roman finds suspicious about this new set of circumstances and as time goes on, the mysteries pile on. Remus is hiding something, but what? And how will his secrets impact not only Roman's life but that of their friends Patton and Janus as well?

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Two weeks later, on a Sunday, Remus, Roman and Janus were on their way to the former’s future home. Patton couldn’t make it in the end because he caught a cold and while he was almost healthy again, he didn’t feel up to a long day out and about. Janus had to promise him to take lots of pictures.

Roman was driving, Remus sat next to him, brimming with energy while Janus in the back was the opposite, completely relaxed. Despite Remus having described the house as being ‘close by’, it would take them almost two hours to get there and that Remy guy had to send them specific instructions because most navigation systems wouldn’t have the right path. But for now, Roman could stick to the empty road ahead, having left the city streets around 20 minutes ago and only one more hour until they were supposed to arrive at their destination.

“So, what exactly can we expect when we get there?” he asked his brother. He hadn’t been able to get many details from him so far but maybe the excitement would loosen his tongue a bit. If he knew more than what he had told him so far.

“Well, I’m not entirely sure. From what Logan told me, the house is about the same size as the one in Liechtenstein, maybe a bit smaller. Remy’s been living there alone for years, and he apparently isn’t the best at keeping things in order so there might be some stuff that needs fixing. I have authorization to use the family funds to do so, as well as buy furniture and the like if I’m missing anything. Electricity and such should work since that’s something important to Remy, so we should have Wi-Fi and tv and shit. There’s a garden but Logan has no idea if that’s been taken care of or not…” Remus trailed off, apparently trying to think of anything else.

“So the house might be falling apart and the garden could be fully overgrown,” Janus summarized. “Lovely.” He did not sound enthused.

“It’s not gonna be that bad!” Remus protested, turning around in his seat to face the other. “If the house isn’t in proper state, Remy could get in a lot of trouble with the elders in the family and that’s not something you want, Logan said. Nothing will be falling apart but there may be some leaks in the roof or creaking floorboards, and it may not be super clean and stuff. But you don’t need to do anything, this is just to get a look at the situation so I can plan for moving in. I can fix shit myself later.”

Roman hit his brother so that he sat down properly again, he was not keen on a run-in with a random cop that just happened to spot them in the wrong moment. Remus grumbled but obliged.

“You expect me to believe that you will fix up the place by yourself? I am supposed to be the liar here, Remus,” Janus commented and Roman watched him for a short moment in the rear-view mirror before speaking up.

“I know it sounds weird, but we both learned a lot from our dad about repairing stuff. It was very important to him that we could solve some common problems on our own like fixing a leaking faucet or car maintenance and such.”

“Yeah! And I did a lot of gardening with mom that Roman was too fancy for.”

“How dare! It was simply not an activity I enjoyed!”

“Sure. You didn’t enjoy it because it made you dirty and damaged your poor fragile little fingernails.”

“Shut up, Remus, or I swear I will stop and leave you out here.”

“As fun as that sounds,” Janus chimed in, “I do not want to have wasted my time coming all the way here and from what Remus has told us thus far, that Remy fellow will not let us in without him.”

“He won’t!”

“Fine!” Roman groaned. “But you keep him in check, I need to concentrate on the road.”

“Will do. Remus, dear, please tell me about your favorite dishes from your trip.” That topic indeed kept Remus occupied as he started to tell Janus all about various weird sounding foods he ate over the past two years. Roman did his best to tune them out since Remus also included some speculations about how they were prepared and those could be rather gruesome.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Roman grew worried again after he had to leave the main road to drive along an uneven one into a forest about 10 minutes prior. They were following Remy’s instructions which Janus was reading aloud since Roman didn’t trust his brother to do it with how excited and unfocused he was currently, but the winding path seemed rather sketchy. Even though it was barely after noon and sunny, the thick canopy above them let not a lot of sunlight through.

The road wasn’t travelled much, Roman could tell but it was kept clear from fallen trees and still drivable. He wondered if that was also Remy’s doing or if some kind of ranger was responsible for this part of the woods. For all he knew, they could already be on private property belonging to that mysterious family of Logan’s.

Just as he was thinking that, a gate appeared in his vision on the road ahead. Large and black with spikes on top it left a rather hostile impression, but Janus confirmed that it was part of Remy’s notes. Apparently, they could just open it since the locking system broke a while back and he hadn’t yet got it fixed and a manual lock was too much trouble.

Roman had barely stopped the car a few feet away from the gate as Remus rushed outside to open it, skipping the entire way. Roman watched him with a bit of a foreboding feeling.

“He’s going to be hard to keep track of, isn’t he?” Janus commented from behind him and Roman would vehemently deny that he flinched, having almost forgotten the other was still in the car with him.

“Probably yes.”

“At least it’s basically his house, so we don’t need to worry about apologizing to anyone when he breaks anything.”

“As long as it isn’t some family heirloom. Those elders he was talking about sounded rather conservative and creepy.”

“Who knows? Old families often times are weird. Especially if they’re old enough to have traditions like they do.”

“You seem to be speaking from experience.” Roman looked at Janus through the rearview mirror again and their eyes met. The latter shrugged.

“My family has some quirks as well, I suppose.”

“Such as?”

Janus smirked.

“It’s a secret, I’m afraid. Unless you wish to become part of my family, Roman.”

“Huh? What? No!” Roman sputtered, cheeks turning red. He broke eye contact to see what Remus was doing outside. He seemed to be done with the gate and was returning to the car.

“I was simply kidding, my prince,” Janus chuckled. “No need to be so embarrassed.” Before Roman could protest, his brother climbed back into the car and loudly demanded they continue on their way. From the gate it didn’t take long before the house came into view.

Roman had developed a fascination with architecture sometime in his teens. Not enough to consider it as a potential career (too much math) but enough to do long nights of research on different styles during history and memorizing their characteristics. His guess, from first glance out of a car he was driving – though slowly – he would say it was Victorian. Before he took a more careful look, he decided to focus on parking.

The driveway was made from stone, uneven and overgrown but still smoother than the dirt path prior. It had the standard fancy-rich-people layout of a fountain in the middle and a circular path around it. Roman couldn’t really see a parking spot so he just stopped the car close to the path up towards the front door. Remus again immediately jumped out of the car before Roman even had a chance to turn the ignition off. Janus had the dignity to wait until then before following him outside.

After Roman had excited the vehicle, he took a moment to inspect the building more closely while Remus bounded off towards the door, Janus following him. The porch was elevated, a few short steps leading up to it. Metal railings prevented anyone from falling and a roof covered it all the way around the side of the house, supported by pillars forming tall archways. The house had three stories as far as Roman could tell and two towers, one on each side, thought the one on the right was a bit taller than the other on the left. Most of the bricks were covered in ivy but beneath them he could see red while the roofs were a green coloration that almost blended into the woods seamlessly. Most definitely Victorian architecture, he concluded.

He was startled out of his thoughts by three very loud, echoing knocks. Apparently, Remus had reached the front door and it must have a metal knocker attached because there was no way his twin had produced that sound with his bare hands. Roman hurried after his companions and just as he cleared the last step, the door opened.

He didn’t know what to expect from some guy that took care of a house in the middle of nowhere and was part of a very cryptic family, but this wasn’t it. The man, presumably, Roman hadn’t actually thought to clarify pronouns ahead of time but Remus had called him ‘guy’ more than once, wore shades despite coming from the inside, a leather jacket and jeans, and had a cup from Starbucks in hand (they were miles from the next settlement, where the hell did he get that?!), loudly slurping its contents as he looked them over.

“’Sup babes! Glad you could make it.” Roman glanced at his companions to see if they were as confused as him but Janus’ expression was completely neutral while Remus was grinning, obviously delighted.

“HI!” he yelled. Volume control had never been Remus’ – or Roman’s for that matter – strong suit and was even worse when he was excited. Remy didn’t even flinch. “I’m Remus, that’s Janny, and that’s Ro-bro.”

“Remy, honored. Hate to do this but I need conformation, gurl.” He held out his hand and Remus slapped his own on it without hesitation, the resulting sound echoing through the house behind them. Again, Remy didn’t react besides pulling the offered hand closer and examining the ring.

“Yeah, checks out. Welcome to my humble abode, I guess. Make yourselves at home, since, y’know, it’ll be your home soon.” Remus immediately ran past him while Janus took more controlled slow steps.

“It’s Janus, by the way. I would be careful to keep him away from anything you don’t want broken.”

“Nothing really valuable in here that couldn’t be replaced, babe. Except maybe the books but since he’s Logan’s boytoy, I’m sure he knows not to mess with those.”

“Boytoy?” Roman echoed, displeased.

“Boyfriend, fiancé, whatever,” Remy clarified, taking another drink from the cup in his hand. “Guessing you also have another name than ‘Ro-bro’ I should call you?”

“Roman.”

“Then please do come in, Roman. Before your brother really does break something.” Warily, he complied, and Remy closed the door behind him. He couldn’t shake the feeling of being trapped and had to resist the urge to check if he could open the door back up again. This isn’t some horror movie, he had to remind himself, calm down.

The foyer was a large open room with a set of double stairs leading up towards the second floor. A huge chandelier hung from the ceiling, covered in cobwebs. Considering Remy’s attitude so far, Roman wasn’t surprised that he didn’t clean up there. There were a few doorways leading further into the house and even more on the upper floor that Roman could make out. The walls were decorated with large paintings of people he didn’t recognize, and the floor was wooden, covered by a carpet that would probably be beautiful if it was cleaned properly.

Remus was already on the second floor, hanging over the railing trying to get close to the chandelier. Janus wandered around downstairs but kept an eye on their chaos gremlin. Roman sighed but didn’t interfere though he startled as he heard a chuckle from behind him. He definitely didn’t like Remy being somewhere he couldn’t see him, he decided. Something about the guy unsettled him.

“Want me to give you a tour or do you wanna explore for yourself?” Remy asked, obviously amused by Remus’ antics. If he registered Roman’s wary of him, he didn’t show it.

“A tour would be for the best,” Janus spoke up before Remus could. “It would be more efficient and I’m sure there’s going to be some questions.” Roman could see his brother’s pout, of course he would’ve preferred to run around at his own whim, but Janus’ plan was too reasonable to argue.

“Sure thing, hun, follow me and I’ll show you everything you need to see.” Remy opened a door to the left, motioning them to follow him and despite him being upstairs only seconds ago, Remus was the first past him. Janus and Roman exchanged a glance and steeled themselves for a strenuous few hours.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The house seemed bigger on the inside than the outside, at least to Roman. Remy led them around for at least two hours, showing them the dining room, kitchen, parlor, bathrooms (thankfully very modern but older aesthetic), at least six bedrooms of differing sizes, and more. The biggest room by far was the library and Remus jumped around in there even more excitedly than before.

“Lolo’s going to love this! He said this is one of the biggest collection the family has!”

“Yep,” Remy agreed, popping the ‘p’. “And there’s even more in the basement. Some… relatives of mine literally just come by to dump their stuff in here and I dunno how to sort them, so I just put them down there. Good luck getting Lo out of there once he gets here.”

“Oh, don’t worry,” Remus grinned, wiggling his eyebrows, “I have reliable methods for getting his attention.”

“Tmi, don’t need to know any more, thanks babe.”

The last stop on their tour was the garden. Remy led them through a backdoor outside, onto a terrace. The stone under their feet hadn’t been cleaned, Roman could tell, and there were weeds growing through the gaps between the tiles. There was a table and chairs, but they all looked like they hadn’t been used in years, rust clearly visible. The few potted plants placed on the railing had outgrown their pots and were spreading over the tiles and rails.

The garden below wasn’t faring better. If there had been paths between bushes before, they weren’t there now. Inside, they had found quite a few things to repair, most of which Remus had already predicted: creaking floorboards, small leaks in the roof, furniture that was about to fall apart and so on. But this out here? That would take the most time to restore, Roman figured.

“I know this looks horrid, but I like, can’t with plants for the life of me. That’s my boyfriend’s department,” Remy explained as he leaned against the doorframe, not having stepped outside with the rest of them. Remus, who had been inspecting the overgrown fauna, waved him off.

“I love the vibe of it! But I’m gonna need to get it under control at least somewhat or Logan’s gonna have a fit. I like gardening.”

“Knock yourself out, gurl. There’s some rare stuff planted here but I can’t tell them apart. Maybe you’ll have more luck there.”

“I won’t be much help inside, but here I can be of assistance,” Janus hummed. He stood at the railing, stroking his hands along one of the plants and Roman thought for a moment he saw it shudder. It was probably just the wind though.

“Thanks, Janny! I’ll take you up on that! But the inside comes first.” Roman nodded in agreement absentmindedly. Indeed, the garden wouldn’t worsen much more in the next few months, but the house certainly could. Especially if the leeks weren’t fixed.

“You can literally do whatever you want, I don’t care,” Remy said, yawning. “I just want this house off my hands.”

“How did you end up taking care of it?” Roman asked. “No offense, but you seem ill equipped to handle it.”

“None taken, babe, I totally agree with you. I didn’t wanna do it either. I was just crashing here for a bit when the elder who was taking care of it had to go somewhere, I don’t remember why or where. It was supposed to be temporary, but the asshole just send me a letter one day saying he ain’t coming back for a while! I tried to find someone else to do it, but no one would. Logan’s saving my ass, if I couldn’t visit Emile soon, I might’ve just burned the place down.”

“Arson’s fun!”

“Emile is your boyfriend, I assume?” Roman asked, definitively ignoring his brother’s comment. “Why can’t he come live here with you?”

“It’s complicated. He can’t just leave, it would take like a lot of prep, he’d only be able to stay here for a few weeks at most and that just ain’t worth it y’know? His roots run deep if you know what I mean.”

“I don’t.”

“Not important. Anyway, I don’t wanna be a shitty host or anything, but I’m wiped. If you wanna stay longer, fine by me but I’m heading to bed.” Without waiting for an answer, he disappeared back into the house. Roman watched him, brows furrowed.

“Something the matter?” Janus asked, suddenly beside him. He barely managed to suppress a flinch; he was startling way too easy today.

“I’m not sure. But he seems weird to me.”

“Remy?”

“Yeah. Something’s off about him.”

Janus hummed for a moment before answering.

“He is certainly eccentric but otherwise fine.”

“I don’t know. I don’t really like the thought of Remus living here with him.”

“Don’t worry so much. I’m sure Remus knew what he was getting into. He’ll be fine.”

Roman wasn’t so sure but he didn’t comment on it again. Janus was right in that he needed to trust that his brother knew what he was doing. Still, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something else was going on. Something… not sinister, probably, but definitely something out of the ordinary.

#namiswriting #brothers and secrets #chapter three: the mansion in the woods #creativitwins #platonic roceit #platonic dukeceit #roman sanders #ts roman #remus sanders #ts remus #janus sanders #ts janus #remy sanders #ts remy #fluff #multichapter fic #sanders sides #fanfiction #reblogs are appreciated

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